Knicks getting their flow on

posted: Sunday, January 8, 2006

NEW YORK -- When the NBA's best free throw shooter comes into your house and misses a pair from the line with 9.8 seconds left, you have to believe things are turning your way.

That's certainly how the New York Knicks felt Sunday on a day when a loss would have dropped them into a tie with the Atlanta Hawks for the worst record in the NBA.

Instead, the Knicks benefited from a crucial pair of missed free throws by Luke Ridnour that could have tied the game and went on to a 120-116 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics to boost their winning streak to a season-high three games.

"This has been the best week of all for us. We're staying out of the papers so far as all the negative stuff," said forward Maurice Taylor, who came off the bench to shoot 11-for-14 and score 23 points as the Knicks not only avoided the NBA cellar but actually moved ahead of the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division.

"We've got a little more confidence," said coach Larry Brown, who twice referred to Stephon Marbury's performance as "phenomenal" after the point guard also scored 23 points and had 15 assists to just one turnover.

Eddy Curry added 22 points, Channing Frye scored 15 in just 21 minutes and fellow rookie Nate Robinson scored 17 in his fourth consecutive start.

Even Trevor Ariza, derided by Brown as "delusional" earlier in the week when he claimed Brown had not notified him of his drop in the rotation, made a strong contribution with seven defensive rebounds and a pair of huge free throws with 8.8 seconds left after Ridnour, who entered the game 76-of-80, missed a pair from the line one second earlier.

With the midpoint of the season just 10 games away, Brown is finally starting to settle on the type of steady rotation he purposely avoided over the first two months of the season in order to get a feel for his newest roster. Sunday marked the fourth straight game in which Brown went with a starting lineup of Marbury, Robinson, David Lee, Curry and Antonio Davis.

I was asked quite a bit before the season how I thought the Knicks would do under Brown, and my stock response was to expect a poor start before things started turning around. Never did I imagine that bad start would include losses in 21 of their first 28 games, but it finally seems the Knicks have put their worst ball behind them while working through the chemistry issues that have plagued them since the start of camp.

Brown and Marbury remain somewhat distant and untrusting of each other, but Marbury has turned things around in a huge way since his 0-for-7 game in Orlando three days after Christmas, when Brown said it appeared Marbury did not want to shoot the ball. In his next three games, Marbury had 23 points and 12 assists, 32 points and 10 assists and 16 points and 11 assists. Add in what he did Sunday, and Marbury might even be in contention for Player of the Week honors.

"We're just more comfortable. We have a really nice flow right now," said Marbury, whose team is only three games out of a playoff spot in a weak Eastern Conference that features only six teams currently playing winning ball.

The playoffs are within reach!!!